Synchronicity
by JesterChester
Summary: Emily's a successful business woman and Paige is a…dog walker. They both want something more out of life but end up finding it in each other.
1. Paige McCullers, Dog Walker

**A/N: This is going to be my first paily full length fic, I've been sort of playing with the idea for a while and decided to start it. Anyway, this is a post college fic set in Philadelphia. Thanks for checking it out.**

**Paige's POV**

I'm sort of a disaster. My friends think it's cute, most people call me a failure, but honestly, I couldn't be happier. Which is stupid, because I probably make 300 dollars a week, which is enough to pay rent and buy Ramen noodles. But I like Ramen noodles and I like my crappy studio apartment, it's cozy and I have a small balcony that looks out into the back of a Vietnamese restaurant. Balconies make everything better, I learned that from HGTV.

Back to me being a disaster. I'm holding four leashes but only three dogs, Snowball the poodle had gotten away.

Normally I'm pretty calm about these things. All the dogs I walk are relatively well trained, and none of them have peed on me this week, but Snowball is kind of insane. And I mean that in the most puppy friendly way possible.

If you've never seen a 24 year old dork chase a 6 month old poodle while holding three other dogs on a leash and running through a crowded park, then I'll tell you myself: I looked like an idiot.

Luckily I didn't trample any children, next to getting burned alive and sea otters, trampling children is my biggest fear. The thing with poodles that no one, except me apparently, understands is that poodles are evasive and they think everything is a game. They're like vindictive ninjas, except with more fur.

"Snowball would you get your ass back here!" I slowed to a stop when I saw the horrified look on an elderly woman's face. She was sitting on the bench feeding birds, but according to the look of absolute revulsion on her face, I think my use of the word _ass_ either nearly caused a stroke or was going to very soon. "Sorry, sorry I meant butt…or you know what? You're like 90 I'm sure you heard the word before." I ignored whatever facial expression she wanted to throw at me, didn't she see that I was chasing a poodle. "Snowball!"

I chased him down, Lily the beagle wasn't exactly helping in the speed department, but I still managed to track Snowball down on one of the trails on the woods. At least my embarrassment could only be noticed by the trees and a few joggers passing by, which was a little more in my comfort zone. "Snowball, if you come back here I will pay you…in treats…or cash. Whichever you prefer." Snowball just looked at me and wagged his tail rapidly, proving even more that he was enjoying the hell out of myself.

If I didn't have to get all these dogs back to their houses in 15 minutes then I probably would've been having fun too. "I will sell you my soul if you come with me." Snowball ran over and sat down in front of me; I put her leash back on and looked at her oddly. "Just for the record, you're not Satan are you?" Snowball just started jumping around which was my cue to leave the park and take the dogs back to their rightful homes.

It was a chore in itself. Mindy owned Lily, she was nice enough to leave my check on the counter, but she was never nice enough to be around when I needed to talk to her. She was just as evasive as Snowball.

Sara owned the black lab, she was incredibly uptight and religious, which is saying a lot considering she's cheating on her husband with a bank teller who wears plaid shirts everyday. I caught them last month, we never speak about it.

Tess was awesome, seriously awesome, she was a painter and she owned Snowball the poodle and Mustard the golden retriever. She was always busy working in her apartment, so that's why she hired me in the first place, but every time I came to drop the dogs off, she was more than willing to invite me in to chat.

I found her laying in the middle of her floor staring up at her fan with a paint brush in her hand. "Um, is this a bad time?" She laughed and sat up for a moment before laying back down. "You okay?"

"Head rush." She got up, slowly this time, and walked over to give me a hug. "Give me good news; I'm drowning in painter's block." She rummaged through her refrigerator while I gave the dogs treats.

"Painter's block? Is that a thing you just made up?" Tess nodded as she pulled out a beer. "Tess, it's eleven in the morning, I don't do liquor before the p.m. hours." Tess stared at the bottle for a moment, as if she were having an internal debate.

"But it's light beer, that's got to count for something." Tess opened the beer anyway and took a sip before handing me the paintbrush. "Here, you do something with it. I'm fresh out of ideas." I twirled the brush in my hand all while waiting for Tess to get herself together.

"Can I paint my face?" I asked playfully.

"Ugh, I always forget you're like 12." I smiled as Tess took back the paintbrush and walked over in front of her empty canvas. "Here's my big issue Paige, I'm not a free spirit, I know it looks like I am due to the fact that I'm a freelance painter, but really I could use a nice big pile of cash. You know what I mean?" I shrugged and stood beside her staring at the blank canvas too.

"Money isn't everything."

"You're ridiculous and I sort of hate you." Tess said nudging me in the side. "When are you going to do something real in your life? Like get an actual job…or by a car?" I laughed, Tess couldn't be serious. She knew a lot about me, not all, but a lot, and she knew I liked my life just the way it was no matter what anyone thought.

"I hate cars." I told her.

"Untrue, you just can't afford one; you've created a delusion that you hate cars." Tess replied. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Spending my paycheck on sushi, Sara over paid me." I pulled the check out of my back pocket and showed it to Tess who gasped.

"Looks like she's playing you to keep your mouth shut about the _boinking incident_." Tess sat down on a stool while I checked my phone for messages. "Oh god, what was that? Did something happen last night?"

"Nothing ever happens any night, I was just checking to see if I was needed at the café." I put my phone back in my pocket.

"You have like 30 jobs, how do you even keep track of them all?" Tess questioned.

"I don't, hence the phone and the rattled exterior." I explained. "And as it turns out I am needed at the café, barista duty, which is about 24 percent better than garbage duty, so I'm feeling pretty positive about that."

"Do you actually work there?" Tess asked seriously.

"No, not really. They just pay me less than everyone else, and give me a nametag that said _Page_ until I scribbled an _i _on it with a pink sharpie. They just call me in when they need me." I pulled on my jacket. "I'm like Batman or something."

…

"One time when I was 5 my mom took me to see Sesame Street live and afterwards we were all allowed to go on stage. The Cookie Monster kneed me in the face, seriously, no bullshit this time, and he didn't even apologize. Can you believe that?" I didn't know what I could or should believe anymore. The only things that I was paying attention to right now were the facts.

Fact: Collin had come to work stoned, and although I was intrigued by his Cookie Monster story, he's already broken three coffee mugs and that was not coming out of my paycheck.

Fact: I don't do well with aprons, even if it's those small ones that only cover your lap. That was the whole reason barista duty stressed me out, because I looked like and felt strange in aprons.

Fact: The steam from the espresso machine was the absolute vain of my existence. And not only that, but they also fogged up my glasses, and that was never fun.

"Collin, as much as I'd love to listen to all of your insanity and maybe write a biography of your life, you've got costumers waiting at table four." Collin shrugged and fixed his shirt before hopping over the counter and greeting the two women sitting at the table.

I'd noticed them as soon as they walked in, hard not to, when our favorite hipster hangout café, didn't exactly moonlight for a conference room. Most of our costumers smoked pot on weekdays, and wore beanies. These two women wore business suits, and ordered something just as bland from the looks of it.

I couldn't hear what they were saying, but with the way Collin typically tried to flirt with everyone, I didn't foresee this going too well for him. Collin walked behind the counter and dropped his notepad in front of me, sliding it over all while trying to contain his laughter. "What'd you say to them? Did you use pick-up lines? Cause it's really embarrassing when you do that. I have a serious secondhand embarrassment problem, remember? I told you that."

"I didn't say anything, but check out what they ordered. Two Black Eyes. I think they're both insane. They won't be sleeping for the next two days, I mean look at them. Uptight business types, they're all the same, vanilla as they come. I expected them to order hot chocolate honestly." There was no point in looking into it, Collin believed that you could tell a lot about a person by their coffee intake, I just made the coffee; there was no interpretation necessary for that.

"Maybe they have an international meeting via Skype or something. Maybe they have to stay up all night. Who knows?" I started making the drinks while Collin continued to look at the two women. "Who cares?" I mumbled shortly after.

"Let me ask you something Paige. Why are you and I, two amazingly talented, witty, and charming people, single? What's our flaw?" Collin asked as I finished making the second drink.

"Well your flaw is that you're a pot head." I told him. "And I haven't quite figured out my flaw yet, but when I do, you'll be the first to know." I promised him.

"You give them the drinks; the one with the briefcase gave me the chills." Collin was notorious for getting out of doing work; I was notorious for letting him. I put the two drinks on a tray and walked around the counter and towards table four.

"Two Black Eyes?" They both looked up at me, I could tell I'd broken up their conversation, which I immediately felt bad about, but quickly tried to cover up. "You know if you walked down the back alley, you could get a black eye for free." Neither one of them smiled, and my first thought was to just pass out, that way I could be embarrassed by something I couldn't control rather than my inability to tell jokes.

"Those our drinks?" Collin was right; the lady with the briefcase was kind of intense, to the point where I almost got uncomfortable.

"Are you two sure you want these drinks? They're basically pure shots of adrenaline." Again, briefcase girl didn't break eye contact with me.

"That's what we ordered, didn't we?" That was all the answer I needed. I set their drinks down in front of them and started back tracking towards the counter. "Um…Pai…Paige, is it? Your nametag is sort of…" I looked down at my nametag and saw that the pink _i _had been smudged. "Well, either way, do you guys sell donuts?"

"Um…ironically we don't, but we have muffins, croissants, pie, banana bread, scones, cookies, cinnamon rolls and …brownies, but no donuts." I rattled off.

"But there is a donut place down the street…" Briefcase lady might have been actually been insane. Which to be fair happens to a lot of people when they drink too much caffeine. I was just stuck on the fact that she was asking me to go buy her a donut, that's a new one.

"Spence, you can't ask her to buy you a donut. She works here." The other woman said. Finally, a name to a face, so I guess briefcase lady was Spence or more accurately Spencer.

"Wait so let me get this straight." I started. "You're asking me to leave work, go down the street, and buy you a donut?" Spencer nodded. "So you're insane?" She nodded again. "What kind?"

"Blueberry." Spencer replied. She reached into her wallet, pulled out two dollars and handed it to me.

"Collin, I'll be back in a second." _A second_ was mildly accurate. It took me about 323 seconds, but when I came back Spencer seemed to be impressed. The other woman she was with looked…annoyed? I wasn't sure why, and I wasn't sure I wanted to find out. "No one can ever say we have crappy service here, then again I technically don't work here." That got both of their attentions.

"You don't work here?" I looked to the woman across from Spencer, her stare wasn't intense, just curious.

"Well I sort of do, it's complex and probably illegal and…it's just sort of a side thing for me, apart from my real job." They both looked at me now.

"And what's your real job?" I reached into my back pocket and pulled out a business card.

"Paige McCullers dog walker, at your service."

…

"Isn't that dangerous?" Tess said from where she was perched atop a bench, smoking a cigarette and looking through her binoculars. I watched her with my arms crossed, wondering why she dragged me all the way out here to people watch when it was dark, and this could've waited another day. I also wondered why I was still walking Snowball when I wasn't even getting paid for this.

"Isn't what dangerous?" I questioned.

"Cheating on someone." I nodded wondering why she suddenly decided to bring up Sara's infidelities again. "I mean sure it's wrong and all, but juggling two people's hearts at once, that's dangerous."

"I wouldn't know, the only heart I have to juggle is my own." Tess let out a puff of smoke and pulled the binoculars away from her face.

"That's so sad." Tess said. "I'm setting you up with someone."

"No. What? You can't….no, please don't do that." I pleaded with her.

"I wasn't asking, I was just informing you." Tess said with a grin. "Plus, you'll like her, and if you don't you can blame me."

"Why do I always let you get me in these stupid situations?" Tess shrugged. "I'm gonna take Snowball on the back path, I'll be back in fifteen." I started walking, drowning out Tess' protest about how she didn't want to be left alone. All I wanted tonight was some fresh air, and silence.

When I reached the back trail, I stood still. It was actually pretty amazing back here, serene and quiet, the exact place I craved throughout my childhood. I could stand here for hours, and I would have but I heard slight movement behind me.

My first thought was that my life story was about to become a Law and Order episodes, one of those ones where the body gets found on a bike trail. My second thought was _turn around you idiot_.

I turned as saw a tall slender figure, a woman, not just any woman, she looked familiar. As she moved closer, I began to make out her attire, tennis shoes, athletic running tights, a slim blue zip up, she was definitely a runner. When I focused less on her clothes and more on her eyes I realized where I knew her from. "Oh hey you're donut girl's friend." She laughed, I'm not sure at what, maybe it was my description of her friend.

"Yeah that's me…sorry if I scared you. You just looked like you were having a moment or something." I looked around us, nothing but dirt, trees and darkness.

"I tend to keep my spiritual revelations to the daytime hours." I tugged Snowball back so that she wouldn't move closer to the woman. "But what about you? What's your excuse for running this late at night?"

"Work takes up a lot of my time; sometimes this is the only time I can run." She explained. "What about you? Are you working now?"

"Um…" I looked down at Snowball. "Sort of."

"Well I um…I'm sorry." I didn't know what she was apologizing for, not in the slightest. "For my friend…Spencer, the _donut girl_."

"It's okay-."

"It's not; she can be like that sometimes. Spencer thinks the whole world revolves around her, but she's not like that all the time. It shouldn't have happened." Was I supposed to say something to that? Her words were genuine, but they didn't feel sincere, it was odd. "I should get home, it's late." The woman jogged off before I could say anything else, I guess that was for the best.

"Who was that?" Tess asked.

"Dunno, just another suit, there's a million of them in this city." Tess walked over and stood by my side, shoulder to shoulder.

"What do you know about painting?" Tess asked.

"I know it requires paint and a brush." That was essentially the extent of my knowledge in that area.

"Well I need you to help me on a job tomorrow." Tess started.

"Tess, I'm not a painter."

"I know, but like you said, it's just paint and brushes, plus the payment is crazy good." Tess could be pretty convincing sometimes, and this was one of those times. "So are you in or what?"

"Where's the job?" I asked.

"Up on Lee Avenue, in one of those skyscraper buildings, the types were everyone's a suit." Tess clarified.

"You are so lucky that I'm poor." I assured her. "What would you do without a sucker like me?"

**Tell me what you think.**


	2. Paint it Blue

**A/N: Thank you for the wonderful reviews/favs/follows, it means a lot especially when I'm writing a full length paily story for the first time. Anyway, thank you for reading and enjoy.**

**Emily's POV**

I was running late, it wasn't something that usually happened, in fact it never happened. I was more punctual then my best friend Spencer, which was saying something, and I never even used coffee for an extra boost. This morning, however, was an exception; I was essentially drinking straight shots of espresso as I rushed out of my loft and raced for the elevator.

After I graduated Stanford, I was certain that I would be a therapist, or at worst a psychiatrist, I never in a million years considered being an agent in the entertainment industry, and yet…here I am. "Emily, you in a rush?" Pete, the door attendant, asked me as I reached the bottom floor. "Because someone left you roses."

"Ugh just put them up at my doorstep, I don't have time to see who they're from." I said over my shoulder. I rushed out to my car and got in, speeding off and towards the agency as soon as I could. I had a few appointments in the morning, technically, I could be late, I was in charge, but I hated making people wait.

As soon as I made it to the office, I was met with the curious gaze of Hadley my colleague. "Fields you're late, out partying last night?" I rolled my eyes; I really wasn't in the mode for any of this, not today, not ever. Hadley was a good guy, but he always tried to rattle me, he was in the business of client stealing. It was probably one of the few things he was actually good at.

"You wish, is my client in my office?" I asked him. The only respond I got was a shrug before Hadley walked off down the hallway. Even in this day and age, men still held on to their superiority complex. I took the steps instead of the elevator; I needed some time to work off my early morning jitters, especially because I'd missed my morning run. My entire schedule was off.

Just as I was about to round the corner Katie came walking at me full speed. "Looks like you're the unlucky one today." Katie said with an apologetic look.

"What does that mean?" I questioned.

"It means, they're painting your office today. Your client is waiting in there though, with the paint fumes and all." Katie explained, I would've groaned and complained if I had time, but I didn't.

"Today's going to be a disaster, I can feel it." I assured her.

"Don't jinx what you can't predict." Katie said before ushering me towards my office. "Her name is Natalia Summers, she's from Minnesota, she's looking for a modeling gig." Katie rattled off just as she pushed me into the room.

I walked across the floor, on the plastic covering that was there to protect the carpet, I paid zero attention to the painter, this meeting was about my new client, not about meaningless distractions. "Hi Natalia, my name is Emily Fields." Natalie stood up and shook my hand, her grip wasn't as strong as I'd like it to be, but that would be something we'd work on later if she made it that far. She sat back down and I took a seat at my desk, folding my hands in front of me and sizing up the girl. She was about 5'9, blonde, pretty, but this wouldn't be a cake walk. "My assistant tells me that you're looking for a modeling job."

"Yeah, I moved out here after college-."

"Where'd you go to school?" I asked her even though I had her file right in front of me.

"The University of Michigan." She said with a hint of pride in her voice. It was the same swell of pride I got when I spoke about college, only less so now, because I've got nothing left to prove, I'm already at the top of my field.

"What'd you major in?" I asked her.

"Psychology." That made me smile, at least a little to myself, before I got to the real questions.

"Why did you move to New York and not to LA, most people choose a different route." I explained to her. She didn't look like she had a good enough answer so I continued speaking. "Either way you've come to us with pretty broad aspirations, are you looking to work with someone in particular? Or are you up for anything?"

"I'll do anything." Natalia said enthusiastically, it took everything in my will power not to knock her down a level in that moment.

"Do you know what the term _vanilla_ refers to?" I asked her.

"Um…ice cream?" Natalia questioned.

"No, it's a blanket term meaning newbie, and that's what you are right now. I'll explain something to you, plainly so there's no confusion. If you go to a photo shoot and you have that attitude of _I'll do anything_ then this business will destroy you. Understand?"

"Yes." Natalia said, I could see her eyes getting a little wider by the moment.

"Another thing, you're going to want to make sure that your portfolio is a little more extensive than this, frankly I'm a lot better at handling actors rather than models, and as much as it pains me…" I picked up my desk phone and dialed Hadley's extension. "I need back up for this." Hadley picked up his phone with his signature _Yo_ and I tried not to roll my eyes in front of our new client. "Hey Hadley, can you come in here for a second?"

I didn't have to wait long, Hadley practically came skipping in the room with a smile on his face. "Natalia this is Hadley, he specializes in getting new models gigs." They shook hands and Hadley had this smug look on his face, directed right at me.

"Natalia, how about you go ahead and go into my office. It's don the hall and do the left, there's peppermints in there, help yourself." Natalia left my office, moving by the painter, who's work seemed to be kind of slow for a professional, and out of the room. As soon as she was gone, Hadley turned back towards me. "So what? Are you just giving up clients now? You're making my job too easy, honestly Emily."

"Could you maybe get the hell out of here?" I said as I sat on the edge of my desk and arched an eyebrow at him. "Hadley, I will punch you, and I really really wish I was joking, but I'm not. Please leave." Hadley held his hands up defensively and backtracked out of the office.

Finally, I was alone, well besides the painter. I crossed my arms over my chest and watched my walls turn from a light green to a pasty white. I hated it already. "Um excuse me?" The woman turned around and I immediately recognized her. It was the girl from the café and from the park, what on earth was she doing here? "You."

"Yes…_me_." She said with an almost mocking tone, I didn't like it right away.

"You're the girl from the café, Page with an _i_, right?" She nodded, and I examined her outfit for the first time since I'd gotten into my office. A light grey full body painter's cover-up, with a white baseball hat on backwards, and thick-rimmed glasses covering her eyes. I even noticed a few droplets of paint on her hands and neck. "I thought your real job was as a dog walker." She laughed mostly to herself before turning back towards the wall and continuing.

"It is, I have many jobs." She replied.

"Yeah, but I'm sure my company is paying you, and we don't usually use workers who aren't part of a union." She looked over her shoulder at me and smiled.

"Wait, this is _your_ company?" I blushed, thankfully unnoticed by her, realizing my mistake in word choice.

"No, but…look, we tend to like things to be done professionally." I explained to her.

"Oh right like how you gave your client over to that bozo Hadley, like you two were playing hot potato." Paige took a step back and admired her work for a moment. "And besides, do you have any complaints?" I didn't have any direct complaints about her work, but I was insanely annoyed by how easily she was able to rattle me.

"Actually yes…" I pushed my body away from my desk and walked over to stand beside her. "I hate this color." I told her.

"I don't actually know you so I'm gonna hope that you're joking." Paige said.

"When I'm at work I tend to avoid jokes, and guess where I am?" Paige crossed her arms over her chest and I walked back over and leaned against my desk again. "I'm thinking blue."

"But everyone's office is this color; it's what I was hired to do. So you're saying that you want a blue office? Standing out must be your thing then." I didn't know what she meant by that, but I decided to take it at face value. "But yeah sure, blue works for me, although I'll have to work on it for at least the next two days if that's alright with you."

"Works for me." I told her.

"So you and your friend, Spencer, you two must always get what you want. Must be like having magical powers." She was most certainly toying with me, which I found to be at least a little interesting.

"You have a pretty good memory; I wouldn't think that you'd remember Spencer." I told her, avoiding her comment entirely. "So are there any other jobs that you have that I should know of?"

"Well I'm a candle maker, an EMT, a drummer, and an escort." Either she had the best poker face in the world or she was actually serious. "Just kidding, making candles would just be weird." She just let the escort comment hang in the air, I assumed to make me think about it more than I should have. "What about you? Just an agent?"

"Yep." I told her.

"Hmm, well while I'm waiting for my partner in Sherwin-Williams inspired crime, do you need me to get you anything? Coffee, a shoe shine…a donut perhaps?" She was absolutely going for the kill. She was a flustered geek yesterday, but today she was on her _A _game.

"You're…" I stopped myself, if I finished that sentence, then I'd only be playing into her trap.

"What?"

"An ass." I didn't expect to get a smile in return. "How long will you be here?"

"Like I said, I'm waiting for my fellow painter. She's working on that big hot shots office, the boss I presume. Have you seen that place, it's massive." Paige waved her hands around for a second before sitting down on the ground, cross-legged. "Then again this place isn't so shabby; you must be a hot shot too."

"Maybe a little." I said with a small shrug.

"So since we're waiting around, how about you do one of those read thingies like you just did with that blonde chick." Paige suggested.

"Not gonna happen."

"What? Why not? Am I too vanilla to be a client, does Hadley have to take over here too?" She was completely under my skin, I wasn't a yeller, but I wanted to yell. Who did she think she was? Luckily the other painter walked into the room before I forced myself to reply. "Tess, you done?"

"I'll finish up tomorrow, let's get out of here." I watched as they began gathering their stuff. I walked back over to the other side of my desk and picked up my phone, dialing Spencer's office number.

"Hastings Law Firm." It was Spencer and I was more than a little surprised that I got to her right away; usually I had to go through about four secretaries before I finally got to talk to her.

"Wow, so you answer your own phone now?" I asked.

"Only when my mom is having the secretaries do a random drug test, she's so scared of any kind of scandal, it's ridiculous." Spencer said. I could practically see her in her blue pinstripe suit, twirling in her chair and looking out at the city streets. She had the second best office in her building, surrounded by glass on two sides.

"Are we still on for tonight?" I asked her.

"Of course, I would never bail on you. We're meeting at our usual spot, are you gonna drive?" Spencer asked, I scrunched up my face and frowned.

"I hate driving." I told her.

"Subway it is." Spencer said. "You do realize you just increased my chances of getting drunk by one hundred percent."

"As long as you don't recite lines from _Lord of the Rings_, I'm alright. I'll see you later, call before you show up at my apartment so I can let you up. My buzzer is messed up." Spencer spewed out a quick _can do_ before hanging up. It was just in time because Paige and her friend were about to head out.

"Hot date tonight?" Paige asked.

"I will see you tomorrow, 8 am sharp." I reminded her.

"Don't worry, I can be punctual." She said as she tapped her finger against her watch. "Unlike you, Miss 20 minutes late to her own appointment." She left it at that, with no room for me to reply. A part of me found it funny; most of me felt it was annoying, all of me was happy that tonight I could go out with my friends.

…

I opened the door to my loft and Spencer was standing there with a smile on her face. "I would've called but I think your doorman has a crush on me, and I find it really endearing when people open doors for me."

"You're an idiot." I told her before taking a step back and letting her in. Spencer's eyes and feet immediately moved towards the bouquet of flowers that were sitting on my countertop.

"Who are these from?" Spencer asked.

"Don't know, I haven't checked." I tossed a few envelopes of junk mail in the trash and opened a letter marked _Stanford Alumni_. "You know what really gets me; how colleges always ask for donations once you've graduated. It's like _hey could you pour more money into the system even though you're drowning in loans_. It really pisses me off." I told Spencer who seemed nothing but amused by the whole situation.

"Seeing you mad is like seeing a squirrel jump rope, it's fascinating." I shrugged and put my mail down. "Also why do you get flowers from clients named…" Spencer picked up the card that was stuck in between a few roses. "Paul Ford who wants to thank you for helping him out and also wonders if you'd let him take you out to dinner when he's back in town." I began making gagging noises.

"He wishes."

"Emily people have to retain hope, without it the world crumbles." Spencer said dramatically. "So you get roses, and I get nothing…I keep people out of jail, the least I could get is a friggin rose."

"Spencer they give you thousands of dollars, that's enough to buy as many roses as you want." Spencer crossed her arms over her chest, she was going to retort with something witty but she looked at what I was wearing first.

"Sweatpants and a t-shirt do not _a-going-out-outfit_ make." Spencer told me.

"Spence, you're like 2 hours early." I pointed to the clock it was only 6. "I think that Black Eye drink really fried your brain."

"Probably, I haven't slept since then, and last night I sang the entire soundtrack to _Hairspray _while sitting on my kitchen floor eating ice cream, it was not a pretty sight. Do you think that barista poisoned us?" I headed for my bedroom and picked up the dress I was going to wear tonight. It as a black dress with crisscross straps on the back and sequin sides.

"Possibly." I pulled off my clothes and slipped into the dress effortlessly. "Speaking of, I went on a run last night-."

"Last night? I thought you were a morning runner." Spencer interjected.

"I am, but whatever…the point is I saw that girl, the barista." I told her.

"You mean Page with an _i _the dog walker?" Spencer asked.

"Yep."

"Was she walking dogs?" Spencer questioned curiously.

"She was last night, and then this morning she was my painter, how weird is that?" I walked over and put on my earrings.

"Majorly insane." Spencer's phone started ringing and she picked it up quickly. "Come on up." Spencer was already heading out of my room and I followed.

"I thought Aria was meeting us there." I said confused.

"She was, she changed her mind." As soon as there was a knock at the door Spencer opened it. In came Aria and…

"Hanna!" I rushed over and wrapped my arms around my friend, she gripped me tighter. It had been a long time, over two months. I didn't blame her, our schedules clashed a lot, and it didn't help that she moved to LA last year, that basically changed it all. She was a fashion designer, and she was doing big things with her career. She was just about to start her own line of clothes, and she's working as a partner to the _Project Runway_ enterprise, she may be ditsy at times, but when it comes to clothes Hanna Marin knows her stuff. "I didn't know you were coming."

"I know, I'm great at surprises." Hanna said with a grin. "So what are we waiting for, put on your shoes Em, we've only got a week to catch up on everything."


	3. Lucky's

**As always, thank you for reading. It took me a while to write this chapter for two reasons. One, that paily scene from last week's episode tore me up, and two, I'm on vacation and I've hardly had time to write. I wrote this quickly, but I still hope you guys enjoy it.**

Paige's POV

"You could ask them to pay you in food." Tess suggested as we lounged on my couch in my apartment. I was bored, but I was glad that Tess was here to keep me company, she usually helped me feel a little more relaxed no matter what happened. "Or maybe pay you in that weird harvest pumpkin beer that you're always drinking."

"Something tells me that those agents wouldn't be so happy about either." I said with a shrug.

"They were kind of stuck up, huh?" Tess said as she took a sip of the beer she loathed, but I loved. "Doesn't it suck being the help?"

"I don't know, I kind of like it. Everyone just kind of goes on with their day and without even realizing that we're there. I mean back at that agency, I saw one of the agents rip this kid to shreds. It was like watching something on _E!_" Tess arched an eyebrow before she let a smile spread across her face.

"Honestly, it's about as fascinating as watching paint dry." She was so full of herself sometimes, she claims she could be a comedian, I thought about trying that out one time, but I have intense stage fright and it would never work. "Do you want to go out?"

"Where? Last time we got kicked out because you thought it would be a good idea to see how many shots you could take…ironically you almost got us shot." I reminded her. "And besides, with you as my wingman I'd be lucky to get someone to smile at me."

"What's that supposed to mean? Asshole." Tess stuck her nose up in the air and changed the channel, she was obsessed with HGTV, so that's what we'd probably be watching all night. "I'm a fucking great wingman, you just suck at speaking, that's your problem not mine."

"You can't insult me in my apartment." I informed her.

"Fine, then let's get out of here." Tess suggested. "Let's go and hang with Max, for like twenty minutes. Plus he still owes you like four hundred dollars, let's just give him a hard time and then we can come right back." Tess had already gotten up and grabbed her jacket, I couldn't stay no even if I wanted to. She was right, I was out four hundred dollars, and I could use that money right about now.

I grabbed my jacket, wallet, and keys and followed Tess down towards my stairs. "Can we set ground rules?" I suggested as we made it to the street. It was a busy night, cars weaving in and out, people walking around, at least no one was rushing, and no sirens were blaring. "Like how you can't drink more than two shots even if they're free, and…you can't pick up any guys, because if I get left behind I will kick your ass in the morning."

"You are such a buzzkill, killer of all buzzes." Tess said with an eye roll. If there was one thing she was good at it was avoidance, and that was exactly what she was doing right now. "Did you know that Max broke up with Freddie?" Tess had this huge grin on her face which let me know all I needed to know about the situation.

"Again, haven't they broken up like nine times already?" I asked.

"Yeah, but don't tell him I told you, don't mention anything about it actually." I shrugged and led the way towards _Lucky's_ which was our favorite little hangout. It had a nice atmosphere and it was clean, nothing more to ask for in a city like this. I walked in and headed straight for the bar, Max was pouring two drinks before we even reached the counter. "Maxie, check you out, you look great." Max slid the shot glasses down towards Tess and I, before leaning over the counter and kissing Tess on the cheek.

"That's funny cause I feel like shit." Max told us with a sigh. "Paige, do you bartend?"

"I've been known to pour a few drinks in my day." I said with a smile. "But not tonight."

"Well you'll both be glad to hear this." I took a seat on the stool while Tess stood. "Freddie showed up here earlier, like the little bitch that he is, and he picked up a guy right in front of me. I'm throwing his shit out on the street tomorrow, wanna help me?"

"Hell yeah." Tess said before nudging me. I grabbed my shot glass and gulped down the liquid inside.

"I dunno, I kind of like Freddie, and plus Freddie doesn't owe me four hundred dollars." Max's eyes widened and he poured me another shot.

"Shit." He cringed slightly before looking back at me. "I'll get it to you by the end of the week. Promise, cross my heart hope to die."

"Good, cause I'll kill you if you don't." I joked.

"Don't get Paige mad, it's not pretty, have you ever seen her mad?" I tried to ignore the conversation between them. I hated when people talked about me, it made me feel like a little 7th grade loser all over again, it wasn't a good feeling. Instead, I looked around the bar, there were a few people dancing, a couple of groups sitting in the booths. One group in particular caught my eye. "…and then Paige pushed the guy so hard he broke two tables, shit got real." Max was too busy laughing to notice the completely change in my demeanor; Tess however, noticed right away.

"What's with…oh shit what are they doing here?" Tess was looking at the same booth that I was. Spencer, the donut girl, and Emily, the ice cold entertainment agent, with two other women sitting next to them. "I didn't realize this place was the average hang out for snobs."

"What are you two going on about? Who are you staring at?" Max stood on his tip toes and looked between us for a moment before we returned our attention to him. "Who's that Paige? An ex?" I laughed, because even I wouldn't have tastes _that_ bad.

"Technically that's my employer." I told Max. "Tess and I are doing a paint job, and the tall brunette sitting across from the blonde…she's making me repaint her office blue. Extra work, but extra pay too so whatever."

"She's making you repaint her office, what a bitch…unless you did something to egg her on." I rolled my eyes and downed the other shot. "You know how you can be, always trying to get under people's skin."

"Alright whatever." I pointed to the clock. "Time's up." Tess was about to complain or groan, but Cassidy, a waitress, walked over and slid a drink in front of me. "What's this Cass?"

"You see that girl over there, the cute strawberry blonde bombshell? She bought it for you." Cassidy explained. "Go over there and talk to her, she thinks you're hot shit." I looked over at the girl again, she was cute, but I didn't know if I was in the mood for anything more than sleeping. "Don't chicken out on me Paige, that girl wants to go home with you."

"I'm gonna go out back really quick." I pushed in between Tess and Cassidy and headed for the back exit. I walked outside and reached into my pocket, the pack of _American Spirits_ had run pretty low but I still had a few left. I stuck one in my mouth and searched my pockets for a lighter, which I, of course, left it at home.

"Need a light?" I looked over at the woman standing next to me. She was the same girl who was sitting across from Emily inside. She held out a lighter for me to take as she blew smoke up in the air. I took the lighter and lit up before handing it back to her. "This is the worst habit ever, I don't even remember how I started."

"Me neither, I don't actually smoke that often, just when I'm…on edge." I shrugged, there I go sharing too much information. One of my other bad habits.

"Everything okay?" She asked.

"Yeah it's fine." I assured her. I couldn't believe she cared, or maybe she was just being nice, but nice was hard to come by especially in this city. "So you're friends with those other three girls you came here with?"

"Were you watching me?" She asked with a laugh.

"No I…I know Spencer and Emily, well not actually _know_ just kinda in passing." I explained.

"Oh really? Spence, Em, Aria and I have been friends since we were kids." I assumed Aria was the other brunette. "You wanna join us for a drink?"

"No thanks, I should actually get home." I tossed my cigarette on the ground.

"I'm Hanna by the way."

"Paige." I told her.

"Hanna? You back here?" Hanna and I both turned around and spotted Emily walking outside. "Wow, I can't seem to get rid of you, do you work here too?" I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back against the wall.

"No, my friend works here though." I told her. She looked back inside for a moment before closing the door behind her. "I didn't think this would be your typical hangout. I figured you'd go to a place that serves caviar."

"It's not smart to assume anything." Emily said before turning to Hanna. "Come back inside, Spencer wants to tell you about the fry-guy."

"Okay sure, I'll see you around Paige, if you see me out behind some bar again, tell me not to smoke." Hanna told me before she followed Emily inside. I walked out towards the sidewalk and pulled out my phone. I dialed Tess's number and she picked up after a couple of rings.

"Paige where the hell are you? Your one night stand is waiting for you."

"I'm gonna have to pass, I'm out front. I'll give you like five until I'm heading back home." Tess groaned, and I could hear Cassidy and Max in the background calling me a chicken, I ignored them, I hung up and waited.

….

I knocked on the office door, for the sixth time. Still no answer. Tess was already hard at work, and I was stuck out here waiting got Ms. Fields to get her head out of her ass and come and open the door. For someone who made such a big deal about having her room blue, she certainly didn't seem like she wanted it now.

After two more knocks, and just when I was about to leave, she opened the door. Only right now she was wearing running shorts and a tank top, and she was right in the middle of a conversation on her phone. I came in with my equipment and started setting up, it was practically impossible not to listen in to her conversation so I stopped fighting it and just gave in.

"…I sent him to the casting call four days ago, he's had two callbacks…that's not the point…they said they were looking for a tall blond not Brad fucking Pitt…he's my pick and I'm standing behind him, if you go behind my back I'll have your job." She hung up her phone and tossed it on her desk, I could feel the frustration radiating from her.

"I like your work clothes, it suits you well." She stared at me for a moment before grabbing her phone again.

"I ran this morning, my schedule has been shot to hell, so yeah think whatever you want but since I have no clients today I can wear whatever I want." I think she realized she'd said too much when I laughed, but she tried her best to ignore me.

"More like you had one too many drinks last night." The blush that brightened her face made my comment completely worthwhile. "How many did you end up having?"

"None of your business." She said shaking her head. "And what about you? Since you left about as quickly as you came, I figure you had a little too much actually."

"Two drinks at the bar, and one beer at home…so no actually it was a slow night for me."

"But what about your girlfriend?" I stopped painting and looked over my shoulder at her.

"Tess isn't my…we're friends. Wow you're really observant. I'm mildly impressed." I told her. "Maybe you should be a cop or something."

"No thanks, I'm good at what I do, I think I'll stick to it." She told me.

"You're right, you're pretty cut throat though, it's sort of unexpected. Honestly, when I first saw you I totally pegged you for a real estate agent, possibly a 2nd grade teacher." She didn't like the comment, I'd known her for three days, and I could already tell when she was annoyed. "You don't like that, huh?"

"Of course not, I've worked hard to get to where I am. So no, I don't like that." I continued painting and tried to figure this woman out. On the one hand, she was easy to read, her face told most of her story, on the other hand she was hiding a lot. "Social hour is over, get to work."

"I'm not actually a painter you do realize that, right? I don't even have my iPod, I'm not going to stay silent for five hours and paint." I assured her. "Hey you never know, maybe I'm decent company." She didn't look convinced, or like she wanted to be convinced.

"If you're not a painter then why are you here?" She asked.

"You know why I'm here." That caught her off guard, even I was a little caught off guard at that. She wanted to ignore me, that was evident, but she also wanted me to continue talking. "For money, that's everyone's reason for everything, isn't it?"

"Not always." She said with an air of confidence behind her words. "Or at least, that's not how it starts, when it's something you love, it never starts out that way." I glanced over at her wall, plaques for sports, awards, and two diplomas.

"Stanford…nice." I told her, impressed by her accolades, she was no scrub.

"Well what about you? Where'd you go to college?" I couldn't tell if she was insulting me or if she was genuinely curious. Either way it was a long story, one I wasn't willing to share with her, not now and not ever. "Sorry…that was…sorry." She shook her head, maybe she realized her mistake, or at least she realized that she was still talking to me.

"It's okay, don't sweat it." I said. I turned away from her and continued painting. The whole time, two things kept running through my mind. One, that I'd have to be here for another day. Two, this color looked like a baby's nursery. Maybe this was Emily's favorite color? That's just embarrassing.

"So why didn't you go home with the other blonde? The one who bought you a drink." I wasn't expecting her to bring that up, but now that it was behind me I could handle the question.

"That's borderline personal, you sure you want to go there?" It took a very moments for me to register that Emily had pulled open her blinds and was staring out her window. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at the road below her.

"You're damn right it's personal, we made bets." She looked at me for a brief moment before returning her gaze to the street below. "I bet that you'd go home with that girl, you made me lose 20 bucks, I'd consider that personal."

"I guess you learned her lesson then."

"Yeah I did. Next time I'll bet against you." She said with a shrug.

"I was going to say that you should mind your own business but we can go with that." I said before setting my roller down and cracking my fingers. "Either way Lucky's is sort of my favorite hangout, so as much as it was a pleasure to have you there…maybe you should find a place more suitable for people who make over 40 thousand dollars a year."

"You're banning me from Lucky's?" She questioned. "Why?"

"Because it's my space and I'm repainting your office so you kind of owe me one." She arched an eyebrow, like I'd just said the craziest thing in the entire world.

"That doesn't work on me." She walked behind her desk and turned on her computer. "Intimidating me or sending me on a guilt trip or whatever you're trying to do, it won't work. Ever."

"Fine but Lucky's is closed tomorrow, so you'll have to find a place just for one night." She started typing on her computer, but I was certain she'd heard me. "So what are you going to do all day? Call up people and destroy their dreams?" She stopped typing and looked right at me.

"Come here." I didn't move, what was she playing at? "Seriously, come over here." I set my stuff down, wiped off my hands, and walked over behind her desk. She pulled up a headshot on her screen and slid back in her chair just enough so that I could see it over her shoulder. "What do you see?"

"This is a trick question." I said, but I leaned forward and examined the photo. It was of a brunette, not much older than me, who looked like she could star in just about any teenage drama show around. "I see a woman, probably an actress, who you're probably going to reject."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because when you first pulled up the picture your face tensed and you took a sip of coffee right away, obvious give aways."

"Well you're wrong. I actually think she has potential." She was lying, but I let her believe that I had no idea. She was going to take that girl as a client completely out of spite, and that was both entertaining and the best stroke of luck that girl might get in a long time. "You might think that you can read me, but you can't. Nice try though."

"I'm going to head for a quick lunch break, I'll be back in forty-five minutes." I was about to start cleaning up my area when Emily stopped me.

"Thirty."

"What?"

"You have thirty minutes for lunch not forty-five. Since this is technically a separate job than the original, which makes me your boss, that's not a problem is it?" I gave her a smile even though forcing it took most of my will power.

"No, of course not."

"And you said Lucky's was closed tomorrow, right?" She asked curiously. I nodded. "Okay well I guess I will have to find another place to hang out then." I grabbed my wallet and headed for the door. "Be back on time Paige, I wouldn't want to have to have your _not-_girlfriend take over for you. That would be a shame." After feeling like I'd had the upper hand all of yesterday, I realized the tables had been flipped.

And that did not feel good.

**What'd ya think? I always love hearing what you guys have to say.**


	4. Unbelievable

**This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but that's what college will do to you I guess. Either way, I still hope you enjoy it.**

****Emily's POV

Hanna had this look on her face that made me want to regret everything I was about to do. I wasn't even acting like myself, honestly, I hadn't acted like myself in the past few days. Right now I was reaching Spencer levels of intensity, but unlike Aria, Hanna was completely backing me up, even though I knew I was making a mistake.

I don't know why I was so set on going to Lucky's tonight, maybe I really just did want a drink and to spend some time with Hanna, but I probably just wanted to see what was going on there today. Paige had lied, to my face, I called in earlier asking if they'd be open to tonight. And they were.

"You seem kind of riled up." Hanna said as I drove down the barely buzzing street. It was a quiet night, most of the bars were just hitting the nightcap, and many people were heading for real clubs, not bars anyway. "Or annoyed…I can't tell which."

"Neither, I just want to spend some time with you. I've been missing you like crazy, and I had to practically unclench Aria's hands from around you, she keeps telling us how happy she is that you're here. Mostly because Spence and I wear too much business attire it, apparently, makes her nauseous." I explained to Hanna.

"Aria's right you know, you and Spence are way to business-y, can I get you drunk tonight?" Hanna asked hopefully. I glanced over at her and laughed before I stopped next to a parking spot on the street.

"Only if you're planning on driving me home." I looked between the two cars and then over at Hanna again. "Do you think I can fit there?"

"No way." Hanna assured me. She squinted her eyes and looked down the street. "There's a spot down there." I looked to where she was pointing and shook my head. "If you hit one of those cars then I'm jumping out and pretending I don't know you."

"It'll be fine." I told her, as I started parallel parking. Hanna made me so nervous, that it took me a full five minutes to actually get into the spot. "Told you." We got out of my car and walked towards Lucky's. Hanna walked straight up to the bar, and I followed, I thought it'd be alright to just sit at the bar tonight, rather than going through the trouble of waiting for a table to open up.

"Oh you're back." The bartender said with a smile. "I saw you two the other night."

"Yeah we decided to come back, this place has a nice atmosphere." Hanna told him as he made our martinis.

"It's the best." He handed us our drinks and went over to help another costumer.

"So Em, you never told me how the rest of today went. Was it awkward today with Paige and all?" Hanna asked. I thought this conversation was long over. Why did Hanna have to bring it up again?

"Can you stop name dropping her? It's weird." I told her.

"To be fair, you don't even know her. All you know, is that you're being a bitch to her-." I arched an eyebrow, and Hanna looked so content with herself I could smack her.

"I'm not being a bit-."

"_30 minutes_ not _40_." Hanna said in a mocking tone. "She probably hates your guts."

"She's a dog walker slash painter slash whatever else she does on the side. I'm not exactly trying to impress her." I looked around the bar, there were actually a lot more people coming in right now, even though Hanna and I were at the bar, I could see people walking over to the dance floor and mingling around. "And today was fine, I said hi, told her to hurry, and she finished by lunch. Piece of cake."

"I think you like bossing people around. Maybe that's why you're an agent, just so you can tell people what to do and make money doing it." Hanna ordered us too more drinking and turned back to me. "So what's the sex situation like?"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean like are you getting any?" Hanna said like it was just the most casual thing ever. I could see the bartender conveniently stop so he could hear us.

"Hanna that's not appropriate-."

"Oh please spare me. Are you fucking anyone or not? Cause if you aren't I'm gonna have to rip your clothes off and just throw you into the crowd and you'll end up with whoever grabs you first." I rolled my eyes, but kept my composure. This was kind of a delicate conversation, one I didn't want to be having right in the middle of a bar.

"Hanna-."

"It's just getting depressing at this point. Maybe I'll just sleep with you, if you get enough drinks in me, I'll do anything…learned that in college." I just stared at Hanna hoping she'd stop eventually. "Okay, fine…I'm done."

"It's just hard to find someone who's not a narcissistic asshole." I explained to her. "I'm not good at lowering my standards."

"What are your standards? Do they have to be a friggin god in order for you to look at them? Because I gotta tell you, that ain't happening." Hanna turned around and looked at the crowd again. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Oh there's a show tonight." The bartender said. "I assumed that was why you were here." He added looking at me.

"Oh really? Awesome, who's playing?" Hanna questioned.

"_Lucid Nova_, they're sorta a cover band, they mostly do indie and alternative songs. You guys should definitely stay for their set." I was so happy I was here with Hanna, we loved music the most in our little circle of friends, and any time we went to new cities we'd always try to look for new bands. Tonight would be great.

"See, I told you it was a good idea to come here." I reminded Hanna. "Plus the booze is really cheap."

"News flash, it's not cheap, you just go with Spencer to places where a pint costs 47 dollars plus your first born child." Hanna started. "And besides, it's hard enough paying for your own drink, I wish Caleb was here." And somehow we always ended up back here. Caleb was Hanna's on again off again boyfriend, who even I, adored. I never understood why they were always fighting and breaking up. They were perfect for each other.

"How's boy wonder?" I asked.

"Missing me terribly, he sends his best, but he couldn't fly out. Some techie convention took him to Chicago this week, bore fest." Someone tapped on the mic and the crowd grew quiet, in anticipation. The lead singer, I assumed smiled as the guitarist came out on stage.

"Give us about ten minutes to get set up and then the show's on. Thank you all for coming out." The lead singer said with a charming smile. There were cheers and whistles all around. Hanna grabbed my hand and pulled me up to my feet.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"I wanna stand up front." She said as she started dragging me through the crowd and moving towards the stage. "That lead singer was hot." I rolled my eyes and continued to follow her until we managed to make it to the front of the stage. Once we were up there, I could fell a couple of eyes on us, a few guys were checking us out from where they were standing. Hanna was oblivious as usual, I just tried to ignore them. "Oh here comes the rest of the band!" The lead singer returned to the front of the stage, his two guitarist walked out behind him, they looked like pretty cool guys, blatant hipsters but in a cool way.

Last but not least the drummer walked out and she was…Paige? Hanna looked over at me first, my mouth just hung open like I'd just seen a gorilla do a backflip. Talk about a plot twist. So this was why Paige didn't want me to come tonight. She didn't want me to know that she was a drummer for a band.

A part of me thought it was hilarious. I mean only a few hours ago she was painting my office, now she was wielding two drumsticks, wearing a bandana around her head, and a cut off shirt with tattered jeans. Oddly enough she looked completely in her element. "Dude, Paige is a drummer?" Hanna hit my shoulder repeatedly until I looked over at her. "Did you know that? Is this why you wanted to come here?"

"Wha-…no! I just thought…well I don't know. All I know is that if I'd known she was a drummer I would've brought a video camera." I said. The lead singer went up to the mic and smiled at the crowd.

"Hey everybody, tonight we're gonna do some covers, this first one's called _Sadie_ by the Fences." I don't know why, maybe it was because I was still in shock, or maybe it was because Paige was actually good, I just couldn't look away from her the whole show. I couldn't tell you what other songs they played, I could say that the rhythms were impeccable.

The show lasted for about an hour, with two short breaks for drinks in between. After their set, the band started clearing up their gear, the lead singer and guitarist went over to the bar, surrounded by a group of women. Paige stayed on stage, leaning against a wall, twirling her drumstick while talking to the other guitarist.

"Hey Han, give me a second." I told her. She nodded and returned to the bar to go talk to the other band members. I climbed onto the stage, and walked over towards Paige. I stopped near her, she still hadn't noticed me yet, the guitarist did though. He gave me a smile. "Paige looks like you've got a groupie of your own." I rolled my eyes but stifled a laugh with the guitarist who was quick to pack up and join his other bandmates at the bar.

Paige stopped twirling her drumstick and smiled at me. "I'm not your groupie." I assured her.

"Could've fooled me, you were really into the music." Paige looked so fucking cocky right now, all I wanted to do was throw a drink at her, or smack her, someone had to knock her down to size. But I couldn't, because deep down I knew that she was really talented. "You know you weren't supposed to come tonight."

"Yeah well…I'm a rebel." Paige stuck her drumstick in her back pocket and eyed me for just a moment longer.

"Wanna buy me a drink?" Paige asked as we moved towards the bar.

"No." I said bluntly. "But you can buy me a drink." Paige didn't respond, she just walked up to the bar, waved her hand and the bartender had two drinks sent our way. It was straight vodka, and I was pretty impressed with her when she downed the drink without batting an eyelash.

"Hey princess your turn." Paige said nodding towards the drink. I looked down at it and then back up at her. "Oh you are such an innocent little-." I grabbed the drink and downed it. "I stand corrected."

"You don't know anything about me." I assured her. "Don't assume anything."

"Hey baby." I turned around and this guy who looked like all the preppy assholes at my school, was standing there. I looked away from him, hoping he'd take the hint. "Wanna go over to my table?"

"No thanks." I told him.

"Come on." As soon as he touched my wrist, I'd already started moving away from him. I didn't want him touching me at all. Paige sat down her drink and pressed her hand against the guys chest, moving him back away from me.

"Dude, she's not interested." Paige said. She was so casually badass, and although I'd never mention it out loud, I respected her ten times more even though the drink she'd just had might have influenced her behavior more than I would've hoped.

"Yo, chick, I'm not talking to you. Step off." Paige shoved him back and the rest of her bandmates jumped in and grabbed the guy, leading him out of the bar in a flurry. I could sense something was up, Paige looked distant, and Hanna walked over towards me before I could ask what was up.

"Emily are you okay?" Hanna asked.

"Yeah I'm fine." I hardly finished my sentence, Paige brushed by us and walked out back, everything within me told me to just stay put. But the curious little kid within me told me I needed to follow her.

"Where's Paige going?" Hanna asked.

"Let me go check." I moved through the crowd and went out back, to the same place where I found Paige and Hanna chatting the other day. Paige was leaning against the wall, smoking and staring blanking in front of her. "You okay?" She didn't seem startled, in fact, she didn't even look at me, she just continued looking ahead.

"I'm fine."

"No you're not." That caught her attention, just briefly though, and I had to walk over and lean next to her to get her to actually look my way. "Were you worried you were going to hit that guy?" I asked her.

"Yeah…a little I have…" Paige looked down at her feet. "I have bad anger management problems. I'm not supposed to do things like that. I should've just walked away."

"You did walk away-."

"After I shoved him." Paige said shaking her head. "Sorry I'm burdening you with this…shit." She looked so defeated I actually felt bad, and I hadn't even done anything. "I'm just some chick who painted your office once-."

"That's not true." I didn't actually mean to say that, what I meant to say was _that's not completely true_, but now I had to continue even though I'd screwed up. "You're a dog walker, a barista, a painter, and a drummer, and probably much more than that. I'm sorry you ended up in that situation tonight, but I'm not sorry that you pushed that asshole. Look even though you've annoyed me more than anyone ever has I…think you're not that bad of a person. So stop mopping and come back inside."

"I'm not mopping." She insisted like it was the only part of the conversation that she picked up on.

"You're unbelievable." I told her, her smile only seemed to grow. "And for standing up for me, yes, I'll buy you a drink."

**Tell me what you think.**


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